NETHERLANDS: Dutch master forger Geert Jan Jansen who fooled not only art experts, but the artists themselves, displays his work

Self-taught artist Geert Jan Jansen turned to painting in the styles of Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte and his fellow Dutch national Karel Appel when it became too difficult to make ends meet selling paintings. Working in a secret atelier in his chateau in central France he produced scores of paintings that earned him the nickname of "master-forger of the century" by art critics and detectives who investigated his canvasses, prints and charcoal sketches - as they could never, up to this day, distinguish between originals and his forgeries. Jansen, 61, an enigmatic figure with combed back white hair, and red-rimmed glasses with tiny lenses perched on his forehead, said he did not copy existing art. He claims tried to get into an artist's soul and paint new works in their style -- sometimes a couple per hour. "Appel gave ten, twenty times a certificate for a painting I did myself and Andy Warhol, Rene Magritte, and plenty of experts and families of the artists who certified my work." Jansen said to Reuters. World renowned contemporary art expert Rudi Fuchs, also the former deputy Culture minister and former director of Stedelijk Museum and curator of Documenta 7 in Kassel, helped Jansen to bring home one-third of the seized works repatriated in March this year. "Contemporary art, modern art, is like the emperor's clothes. It's a forgery almost itself, it's a joke - people think that - so when the joke has been forged, that makes it even more exciting. So, I won't tell you he (Geert Jan Jansen) is a good artist, but he is a good painter, technically, he can paint all these things, but he is also a forger, even by his own admittance, he doesn't deny it, he is famous for that. And people, of course they love forgers, like they like James Bond," Fuchs said. Jansen's worked under other artists names would fetch 200,000 to 300,000 euros (235,500-353,300 in U.S. dollars), until he was caught out -- because he made a spelling mistake. Police were called after the spelling error was made on a certificate of authenticity for a Chagall painting aroused the suspicion of an auctioneer in 1994. "I spelt 'environ' with an 's' when there shouldn't have been one," said the 61-year old who started painting at three years old. His secret atelier, where he produced scores of Gustav Klimts, Modiglianis and Jean Cocteaus, was discovered by investigators in his castle in La Chaux in France. Some 1,600 works were seized and Jansen spent six months in temporary custody in France as investigations were carried out. However, Jansen claims that despite calling in experts, the courts could not prove the works of art were not authentic and he was not charged. Unable to distinguish between real works and forged ones, Jansen was released. The court wanted the seized works destroyed, but the collection included several authentic Picasso's, Chagall's and Mattisse's for which Jansen had certificates of authenticity. Most paintings by well known artists at Jansen's exhibition today are unsigned. Those that do have signatures are not for sale, with exception of the Picasso's, which are signed but dated after his death in 1973. The works, including paintings of his own design, now fetch 8,000 to 10,000 euros and will be on show next in December in Amsterdam. Art Dealers have criticised Jansen for polluting the art market, where he claims many of his works are still circulating. "Yeah, there is maybe one percent that's discovered. For the rest, there are many many paintings that turn up in the auction rooms and are still circulating in the galleries." Jansen now holds workshops for art students, where he teaches them how to make a nice painting, "a little Picasso or an Appel, anything they want."

ITN Source | December 9, 2005

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